Kathmandu, May 25: Sancharika Samuha Nepal (SAS-Nepal) today organised a workshop entitled “Beijing +5: Role of Media” for working journalists to discuss Nepal’s achievements and weakness in the women and media sector during the five years after the Beijing Conference. During the workshop, the participants were divided into three working groups to carry out discussions on three different topics related to women and media. The participants drafted the strategies on increasing the participation of women professionals and positive portrayal of women in media.

World Women Conference held in 1995 in the Chinese capital identified women and media as one of the 12 critical areas of concern. Nepal, as a participating nation, expressed commitment to the Beijing Declaration and Beijing Platform for Action that morally binds a nation to design and implement national strategy to enhance participation of women professionals and positive portrayal of women in mass media.

Following the recommendations of Beijing Conference Nepal designed National Action Plan in all the 12 critical areas of concern in 1997 and through a workshop, developed prototype concerning positive portrayal of women in media. However, the participants of today’s workshop expressed their dissatisfaction that the government has failed to translate the national commitments into action.

Media Advisor of FES P. Kharel said that in comparison to other South Asian countries Nepal’s mass media is giving larger coverage to gender and women related issues.

NC leader and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba noted that Nepalese women’s weak participation in politics and their economical dependency is preventing them from reaching the decision making posts. He noted that Nepalese women’s social status is gradually changing for better, however, the process is slow and inadequate.

Bandana Rana of SAS-Nepal expressed dissatisfaction that participation of women professionals in media is too poor to influence the decision making process in the media institutions. According to official data, out of the total only 12 per cent of professionals in government media institutions are women. She also criticised the government for failing to implement the National Action Plan 1997 that was designed to accelerate overall women’s development in the country.